Chopin : Biography biography Click here for Chopin's quotes and quotes of others about Chopin >>> Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, the Polish composer and pianist, was born on 1 March 1810, according to the statements of the artist himself and his family, but according to his baptismal certificate, which was written several weeks after his birth, the date was 22 February. His birthplace was the village of Zelazowa Wola near Sochaczew, in the region of Mazovia, which was part of the Duchy of Warsaw. The manor-house in Zelazowa Wola belonged to Count Skarbek and Chopin's father, Mikolaj (Nicolas) Chopin, a Polonized Frenchman, was employed there as a tutor. He had been born in 1771 in Marainville in the province of Lorraine in France, but already as a child he had established contacts with the Polish families of Count Michal Pac and the manager of his estate, Jan Adam Weydlich. At the age of 16, Mikolaj accompanied them to Poland where he settled down permanently.

He never returned to France and did not retain contacts with his French family but brought up his children as Poles. In 1806, Mikolaj Chopin married Tekla Justyna Krzyzanowska, who was the housekeeper for the Skarbek family at Zelazowa Wola. They had four children: three daughters Ludwika, Izabela and Emilia, and a son Fryderyk, the second child. Several months after his birth, the whole family moved to Warsaw, where Mikolaj Chopin was offered the post of French language and literature lecturer in the Warsaw Lyceum. He also ran a boarding school for sons of the gentry. The musical talent of Fryderyk became apparent extremely early on, and it was compared with the childhood genius of Mozart. Already at the age of 7, Fryderyk was the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B flat major), the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski. The prodigy was featured in the Warsaw newspapers, and "little Chopin" became the attraction and ornament of receptions given in the aristocratic salons of the capital. He also began giving public charity concerts.

His first professional piano lessons, given to him by Wojciech Zywny (b. 1756 in Bohemia), lasted from 1816 to 1822, when the teacher was no longer able to give any more help to the pupil whose skills surpassed his own. The further development of Fryderyk's talent was supervised by Wilhelm Wï¿½rfel (b.1791 in Bohemia), the renowned pianist and professor at the Warsaw Conservatory who was to offer valuable, although irregular, advice as regards playing the piano and organ. From 1823 to 1826, Fryderyk attended the Warsaw Lyceum where his father was one of the professors. He spent his summer holidays in estates belonging to the parents of his school friends in various parts of the country. For example, he twice visited Szafarnia in the Kujawy region where he revealed a particular interest in folk music and country traditions. The young composer listened to and noted down the texts of folk songs, took part in peasant weddings and harvest festivities, danced, and played a folk instrument resembling a double bass with the village musicians; all of which he described in his letters.

Chopin became well acquainted with the folk music of the Polish plains in its authentic form, with its distinct tonality, richness of rhythms and dance vigour. When composing his first mazurkas in 1825, as well as the later ones, he resorted to this source of inspiration which he kept in mind until the very end of his life. In the autumn of 1826, Chopin began studying the theory of music, figured bass and composition at the Warsaw High School of Music, which was both part of the Conservatory and, at the same time, connected with Warsaw University. Its head was the composer Jï¿½zef Elsner (b. 1769 in Silesia). Chopin, however, did not attend the piano class. Aware of the exceptional nature of Chopin's talent, Elsner allowed him, in accordance with his personality and temperament, to concentrate on piano music but was unbending as regards theoretical subjects, in particular counterpoint.

Chopin, endowed by nature with magnificent melodic invention, ease of free improvisation and an inclination towards brilliant effects and perfect harmony, gained in Elsner's school a solid grounding, discipline, and precision of construction, as well as an understanding of the meaning and logic of each note. This was the period of the first extended works such as the Sonata in C minor, Variations, op. 2 on a theme from Don Juan by Mozart, the Rondo ï¿½ la Krakowiak, op. 14, the Fantaisie, op. 13 on Polish Airs (the three last ones written for piano and orchestra) and the Trio in G minor, op. 8 for piano, violin and cello. Chopin ended his education at the High School in 1829, and after the third year of his studies Elsner wrote in a report: "Chopin, Fryderyk, third year student, amazing talent, musical genius". After completing his studies, Chopin planned a longer stay abroad to become acquainted with the musical life of Europe and to win fame. Up to then, he had never left Poland, with the exception of two brief stays in Prussia.

In 1826, he had spent a holiday in Bad Reinertz (modern day Duszniki-Zdrï¿½j) in Lower Silesia, and two years later he had accompanied his father's friend, Professor Feliks Jarocki, on his journey to Berlin to attend a congress of naturalists. Here, quite unknown to the Prussian public, he concentrated on observing the local musical scene. Now he pursued bolder plans. In July 1829 he made a short excursion to Vienna in the company of his acquaintances. Wilhelm Wï¿½rfel, who had been staying there for three years, introduced him to the musical milieu, and enabled Chopin to give two performances in the Kï¿½rtnertortheater, where, accompanied by an orchestra, he played Variations, op.2 on a Mozart theme and the Rondo ï¿½ la Krakowiak, op. 14 , as well as performing improvisations. He enjoyed tremendous success with the public, and although the critics censured his performance for its small volume of sound, they acclaimed him as a genius of the piano and praised his compositions.

Consequently, the Viennese publisher Tobias Haslinger printed the Variations on a theme from Mozart (1830). This was the first publication of a Chopin composition abroad, for up to then, his works had only been published in Warsaw. Upon his return to Warsaw, Chopin, already free from student duties, devoted himself to composition and wrote, among other pieces, two Concertos for piano and orchestra: in F minor and E minor. The first concerto was inspired to a considerable extent by the composer's feelings towards Konstancja Gladkowska, who studied singing at the Conservatory. This was also the period of the first nocturne, etudes, waltzes, mazurkas, and songs to words by Stefan Witwicki. During the last months prior to his planned longer stay abroad, Chopin gave a number of public performances, mainly in the National Theatre in Warsaw where the premiï¿½re of both concertos took place.

Originally, his destination was to be Berlin, where the artist had been invited by Prince Antoni Radziwill, the governor of the Grand Duchy of Poznan, who had been appointed by the king of Prussia, and who was a long-standing admirer of Chopin's talent and who, in the autumn of 1829, was his host in Antonin. Chopin, however, ultimately chose Vienna where he wished to consolidate his earlier success and establish his reputation. On 11 October 1830, he gave a ceremonial farewell concert in the National Theatre in Warsaw, during which he played the Concerto in E minor, and K. Gladkowska sang. On 2 November, together with his friend Tytus Woyciechowski, Chopin left for Austria, with the intention of going on to Italy. Several days after their arrival in Vienna, the two friends learnt about the outbreak of the uprising in Warsaw, against the subservience of the Kingdom of Poland to Russia and the presence of the Russian Tsar on the Polish throne. This was the beginning of a months-long Russo-Polish war. T.

Woyciechowski returned to Warsaw to join the insurgent army, while Chopin, succumbing to the persuasion of his friend, stayed in Vienna. In low spirits and anxious about the fate of his country and family, he ceased planning the further course of his career, an attitude explained in a letter to J. Elsner: "In vain does Malfatti try to convince me that every artist is a cosmopolitan. Even if so, as an artist, I am still in my cradle, as a Pole, I am already twenty; I hope, therefore that, knowing me well, you will not chide me that so far I have not thought about the programme of the concert". The performance ultimately took place on 11 June 1831, in the Kï¿½rtnerthortheater, where Chopin played the Concerto in E minor. The eight months spent in Vienna were not wasted. Strong and dramatic emotional experiences inspired the creative imagination of the composer, probably accelerating the emergence of a new, individual style, quite different from his previous brilliant style.

The new works, which revealed force and passion, included the sketch of the Scherzo in B minor and, above all, the powerful Etudes from op. 10. Having given up his plans for a journey to Italy, due to the hostilities there against Austria, Chopin resolved to go to Paris. On the way, he first stopped in Munich where he gave a concert on the 28th of August and then went on to Stuttgart. Here he learnt about the dramatic collapse of the November Uprising and the capture of Warsaw by the Russians. His reaction to this news assumed the form of a fever and nervous crisis. Traces of these experiences are encountered in the so-called Stuttgart diary: "The enemy is in the house (...) Oh God, do You exist? You do and yet You do not avenge. - Have You not had enough of Moscow's crimes - or - or are You Yourself a Muscovite [...] I here, useless! And I here empty-handed. At times I can only groan, suffer, and pour out my despair at my piano!". In the autumn of 1831 Chopin arrived in Paris where he met many fellow countrymen.

Following the national defeat, thousands of exiles, including participants of the armed struggle, politicians, representatives of Polish culture, such as the writer Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Romantic poets A. Mickiewicz and Juliusz Slowacki, and the Warsaw friends of Chopin, the poets Stefan Witwicki and Bohdan Zaleski, sought refuge from the Russian occupation in a country and city which they found most friendly. Chopin made close contacts with the so-called Great Emigration, befriended its leader Prince Adam Czartoryski, and became a member of the Polish Literary Society, which he supported financially. He also attended emigrï¿½ meetings, played at charity concerts held for poor emigrï¿½s, and organised similar events. In Paris, his reputation as an artist grew rapidly. Letters of recommendation which the composer brought from Vienna allowed him immediately to join the local musical milieu, which welcomed him cordially. Chopin became the friend of Liszt, Mendelssohn, Ferdinand Hiller, Berlioz and Auguste Franchomme.

Later on, in 1835, in Leipzig, he also met Schumann who held his works in great esteem and wrote enthusiastic articles about the Polish composer. Upon hearing the performance of the unknown arrival from Warsaw, the great pianist Friedrich Kalkbrenner, called the king of the piano, organised a concert for Chopin which took place on the 26th of February 1832 in the Salle Pleyel. The ensuing success was enormous, and he quickly became a famous musician, renowned throughout Paris. This rise to fame aroused the interest of publishers and by the summer of 1832, Chopin had signed a contract with the leading Parisian publishing firm of Schlesinger. At the same time, his compositions were published in Leipzig by Probst, and then Breitkopf, and in London by Wessel. The most important source of Chopin's income in Paris was, however, from giving lessons. He became a popular teacher among the Polish and French aristocracy and Parisian salons were his favourite place for performances.

As a pianist, Chopin was ranked among the greatest artists of his epoch, such as Kalkbrenner, Liszt, Thalberg and Herz, but, in contrast to them, he disliked public performances and appeared rarely and rather unwillingly. In a friendly, intimate group of listeners he disclosed supreme artistry and the full scale of his pianistic and expressive talents. Having settled down in Paris, Chopin deliberately chose the status of an emigrï¿½. Despite the requests of his father, he did not obey the Tsarist regulations, issued in subjugated Poland, and never extended his passport in the Russian embassy. Consequently, being regarded as a political refugee, Chopin deprived himself of the possibility of legally revisiting his homeland. He longed to see his family and friends and, seeking refuge against loneliness, decided to share accommodation with the physician Aleksander Hoffman, another Polish exile, and after the latter's departure from Paris, with his Warsaw friend, former insurgent and physician, Jan Matuszynski. In this situation, the composer could meet his parents only outside Poland and when in August 1835 they went to Karlsbad for a cure, Chopin soon followed.

Afterwards, while in nearby Dresden, he renewed his acquaintance with the Wodzinski family. Years earlier, the three young Wodzinski sons had stayed in the boarding house managed by Mikolaj Chopin. Their younger sister, Maria, now an adolescent, showed considerable musical and artistic talent and Chopin fell in love with her and wanted to marry her and set up a family home of his own in exile. The following year, during a holiday spent together with the seventeen year-old Maria and her mother in Marienbad (modern day Mï¿½rianskï¿½ Lï¿½zne in the Czech Republic), and then in Dresden, he proposed and was accepted on the condition that he would take better care of his health. The engagement was unofficial, and did not end in marriage, for after a year-long "trial" period, Maria's parents, disturbed by the bad state of the health of her fiancï¿½ who was seriously ill in the winter, and especially by his irregular lifestyle, viewed him as an unsuitable partner for their daughter. Chopin found this rejection an extremely painful experience, and labelled the letters from the Wodzinski family, tied into a small bundle, "My sorrow".

In July 1837, Chopin travelled to London in the company of Camille Pleyel in the hope of forgetting all unpleasant memories. Soon afterwards, he entered into a close liaison with the famous French writer George Sand. This author of daring novels, older by six years, and a divorcee with two children, offered the lonely artist what he missed most from the time when he left Warsaw: extraordinary tenderness, warmth and maternal care. The lovers spent the winter of 1838/1839 on the Spanish island of Majorca, living in a former monastery in Valdemosa. There, due to unfavourable weather conditions, Chopin became gravely ill and showed symptoms of tuberculosis. For many weeks, he remained so weak as to be unable to leave the house but nonetheless, continued to work intensively and composed a number of masterpieces: the series of 24 preludes, the Polonaise in C minor, the Ballade in F major, and the Scherzo in C sharp minor.

On his return from Majorca in the spring of 1839, and following a convalescence in Marseilles, Chopin, still greatly weakened, moved to George Sand's manor house in Nohant, in central France. Here, he was to spend long vacations up to 1846, with the exception of 1840, returning to Paris only for the winters. This was the happiest, and the most productive, period in his life after he left his family home. The majority of his most outstanding and profound works were composed in Nohant. In Paris, the composer and writer were treated as a married couple, although they were never married. Both had common friends among the artistic circles of the capital, such as the painter Delacroix and the singer Pauline Viardot, as well as the Polish emigrï¿½s, such as A. Mickiewicz and W. Grzymala. For years, the couple enjoyed a deep love and friendship, but with time the increasingly hostile attitude of George Sand's son, who exerted a strong influence on the writer, caused ever more serious conflicts. A final parting of ways took place in July 1847.

Grievous personal experiences as well as the loss of Nohant, so important for the health and creativity of the composer, had a devastating effect on Chopin's mental and physical state. He almost completely gave up composition, and from then to the end of his life wrote only a few miniatures. In April 1848, persuaded by his Scottish pupil, Jane Stirling, Chopin left for England and Scotland. Together with her sister, Miss Stirling organised concerts and visits in various localities, including the castles of the Scottish aristocracy. This exceptionally hectic life style and excessive strain on his strength from constant travelling and numerous performances, together with a climate deleterious to his lungs, further damaged his health. On 16 November 1848, despite frailty and a fever, Chopin gave his last concert, playing for Polish emigrï¿½s in the Guildhall in London. A few days later, he returned to Paris His rapidly progressing disease made it impossible to continue giving lessons. In the summer of 1849, Ludwika Jedrzejewiczowa, the eldest sister of the composer, came from Warsaw to take care of her ill brother.

On 17 October 1849, Chopin died of pulmonary tuberculosis in his Parisian flat in the Place Vendï¿½me. He was buried in the Pï¿½re-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. In accordance with his will, however, his heart, taken from his body after death, was brought by his sister to Warsaw where it was placed in an urn installed in a pillar of the Holy Cross church in Krakowskie Przedmiscie. (by Barbara Smolenska-Zielinska, from the Official Chopin Homepage) Recommended books on Chopin's biography: - William G. Atwood, The Parisian worlds of Frédéric Chopin , Yale University Press, 1999 - Frederic Chopin, Chopin's letters , edited by E.L.

Voynich, Dover, 1988 - Alfred Cortot, In search of Chopin , translated from French by Cyril and Rena Clarke, Greenwood Press, 1952 Chopin - Composers - Classic FM Classic FM News Now Playing Schedule Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of French-Polish parentage. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music. Life and Music Frederic Chopin was born in Poland, west of Warsaw, on either February 22nd or March 1st 1810 - local records differ with when Chopin's parents claimed he was born. Chopin was composing and writing poetry at six, and gave his first public concerto performance at the age of eight. In 1822 Chopin came under the personal supervision of Jozef Elsner, the founder-director of the Warsaw Conservatory. He became a leading advocate of 'absolute music', producing some of the earliest Romantic pieces and arguably the finest body of solo music for the piano.

Chopin dedicated his second piano concerto (1830) to Delfina Potocka, with whom he hit the headlines during the 1940s when a sensational series of highly erotic (forged) love letters were discovered. In 1836 Chopin met the novelist George Sand (alias Aurore Dudevant), and so began one of the most famous love affairs in the history of music. The pair split up in 1847. Chopin's Funeral March, one of the piano repertoire's most famous works, was composed in 1837. By 1841, both sets of Chopin's Etudes had been published. They went on to become indispensable tomes for piano students everywhere. Among the most famous of his works was composed late in his life - The Minute Waltz was finished in 1847. Chopin's health began to deteriorate rapidly and he left for England at the invitation of his Scottish piano pupil, Jane Stirling. He returned to Paris, where, despite gifts of money and many kind attempts to comfort him, he died on 17 October 1849. Did you know?

Chopin paid for his expensive lifestyle by giving piano lessons to rich people in Paris. He never liked the idea of asking them for money, so would look away while they left the fee on his mantelpiece. The fast and friendly guide to Chopin Classic FM's Fast and Friendly Guide to Chopin 01:53 Frederic Chopin Frederic Chopin Location of death: Paris, France Cause of death: Tuberculosis Nationality: Poland Executive summary: Composer for the piano Polish musical composer and pianist born at Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw, on the 22nd of February 1810. His father, of French origin, born at Nancy in 1770, had married a Polish lady, Justine Krzyzanowska. Frederic was their third child. His first musical education he received from Adalbert Ziwny, a Czech musician, who is said to have been a passionate admirer of Johann Sebastian Bach .

He also received a good general education at one of the first colleges of Warsaw, where he was supported by Prince Antoine Radziwill, a generous protector of artistic talent and himself well known as the composer of music to Goethe 's Faust and other works. His musical genius opened to Chopin the best circles of Polish society, at that time unrivaled in Europe for its ease of intercourse, the beauty and grace of its women, and its liberal appreciation of artistic gifts. These early impressions were of lasting influence on Chopin's development. While at college he received thorough instruction in the theory of his art from Joseph Elsner, a learned musician and director of the conservatoire at Warsaw. When in 1829 he left his native town for Vienna, where his debut as a pianist took place, he was in all respects a perfectly formed and developed artist. There is in his compositions little of that gradual progress which, for instance, in Beethoven necessitates a classification of his works according to different periods. Chopin's individuality and his style were distinctly pronounced in that set of variations on La ci darem which excited the wondering enthusiasn of Robert Schumann.

In 1831 he left Vienna with the intention of visiting London; but on his way to England he reached Paris and settled there for the rest of his life. Here again he soon became the favorite and musical hero of society. His connection with Madame Dudevant, better known by her literary pseudonym of George Sand , is an important feature of Chopin's life. When in 1839 his health began to fail, George Sand went with him to Majorca, and it was mainly owing to her tender care that the composer recovered his health for a time. Chopin declared that the destruction of his relations with Madame Dudevant in 1847 broke up his life. The association of these two artists has provoked a whole literature on the nature of their relations, of which the novelists Un Hiver � Majorque was the beginning. The last ten years of Chopin's life were a continual struggle with the pulmonary disease to which he succumbed in Paris on the 17th of October 1849. The year before his death he visited England, where he was received with enthusiasm by his numerous admirers. Chopin died in the arms of his sister, who hastened from Poland to his death-bed.

He was buried in the cemetery of P�re Lachaise. A small monument was erected to the memory of the composer at Wasswan in 1880. Portraits and medallions of Chopin were executed by Ary Scheffer and Eug�ne Delacroix , and by the sculptors Bary and Cl�singer. A distinguished English amateur thus records his impressions of Chopin's style of pianoforte-playing compared with those of other masters. "His technical characteristics may be broadly indicated as negation of bravura, absolute perfection of fingerplay, and of the legatissimo touch, on which no other pianist has ever so entirely leant, to the exclusion of that high relief and point which the modern German school, after the examples of Liszt and Thalberg, has so effectively developed. It is in these feature that we must recognize that Grundverschiedenheit (fundamental difference) which according to Felix Mendelssohn distinguished Chopin's playing from that of these masters, and in no less degree from the example and teaching of Moscheles...

Imagine a delicate man of extreme refinement of mien and manner, sitting at the piano and playing with no sway of the body and scarcely any movement of the arms, depending entirely upon his narrow feminine hands and slender fingers. The wide arpeggios in the left hand, maintained in a continuous stream of tone by the strict legato and fine and constant use of the damper-pedal, formed a harmonious substructure for a wonderfully poetic cantabile. His delicate pianissimo, the ever-changing modifications of tone and time (tempo rubato) were of indescribable effect. Even in energetic passages he scarcely ever exceeded an ordinary mezzoforte. His playing as a whole was unique in its kind, and no traditions of it can remain, for there is no school of Chopin the pianist, for the obvious reason that he could never be regarded as a public player, and his best pupils were nearly all amateurs." In looking through the list of his compositions, teeming with mazurkas, valses, polonaises, and other forms of national dance music, one could hardly suppose that here one of the most melancholy natures has revealed itself.

This seeming paradox is solved by the type of Chopin's nationality, of which it has justly been said that its very dances are sadness intensified. But notwithstanding this strongly pronounced national type of his compositions, his music is always expressive of his individual feelings and sufferings to a degree rarely met with in the annals of the art. He is indeed the lyrical composer par excellence of the modern school, and the intensity of his expression finds its equal in literature only in the songs of Heinrich Heine , to whom Chopin has been justly compared. A sensation of such high-strung passion cannot be prolonged. Hence we see that the shorter forms of music, the �tude, the nocturne, besides the national dances already alluded to, are chosen by Chopin in preference. Even when he treats the larger forms of the concerto or the sonata this concentrated, not to say pointed, character of Chopin's style becomes obvious. The more extended dimensions seem to encumber the freedom of his movements. The concerto for pianoforte with accompaniment of the orchestra in E may be instanced.

Here the adagio takes the form of a romance, and in the final rondo the rhythm of a Polish dance becomes recognizable while the instrumentation throughout is meagre and wanting in color. Chopin is out of his element, and even the beauty of his melodies and harmonies cannot wholly banish the impression of incongruity. Fortunately he himself knew the limits of his power, and with very few exceptions his works belong to that class of minor compositions of which he was an unrivaled master. Barring a collection of Polish songs, two concertos, and a very small number of concerted pieces of chamber music, almost all his works are written for the pianoforte solo; the symphony, the oratorio, the opera, he never attempted. Father: Mikolaj Chopin Most Famous Composers – List of Famous Composers in History Nationality: Italian Known For: Baroque instrumental concerto Antonio Vivaldi was a very noteworthy composer who made hundreds of musical creations. Although originally ordained a priest, he dicided to go with his passion in music. His most popular works were concertos in that of the Baroque style.

Nationality: German Known For: His innovations in musical style and how complex his music was Bach came from a long line of gifted musical ancestors. Bach grew up playing a lot of organ and violin. He took various gigs at different churches throughout his career. His skills were highly regarded across Europe while he was alive. However, it was not until later in the 19th century that his talents were fully recognized. Nationality: Austrian Known For: Deep influence on classical music Mozart was a child prodigy from the start. He began composing on the violin and keyboard when he was just five. In his lifetime he composed more than 600 pieces, many of which are considered to this day to be great works of musical genious. Nationality: German Known For: His Fifth and Ninth Symphonies. Beethoven is famous for being one of the greatest composers of all time. He was very talented from a young age and gained a reputation as an incredibly gifted pianist. He achieved this success despite going nearly entirely deaf during some of his more creative years. Nationality: Austrian Known For: Connecting romantic and classical composition Although he only lived for 32 years, Schubert was incredibly able to become an outstanding and well-known composer.

Although he was not all that popular during his life, his work was later appreciated much more in the years after his death. To this day he is still one of the top performed composers. Nationality: German Known For: Great compositions, especially “Wedding March” from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Felix Mendelssohn was a muic teacher, composer, pianist and conductor. He composed his works during the early Romantic period, thus his music emphasized emotions and imagination rather than traditional structures. However, he was decidedly more conservative in his stylings than that of his contemporaries. Nationality: Polish Known For: Influential piano composer Chopin was a composer and gifted pianist. He was also considered to be a child prodigy. Many of his works are well-known such as the Minute Waltz and a portion of his Funeral March Sonata Number 2. Nationality: German Known For: Intellectual and emotional compositions Schumann was an influential and great composer of the Romantic era. After leaving law school to focus on his piano playing he later severely injured his hand and had to focus on composing music instead. Before the injury it was said that he could have become one of the greatest piano players in all of Europe.

Nationality: Hungarian Known For: Composing over 700 pieces He was known for his originality which garnered him great influence during the Romantic movement in Europe. By the age of 9 he was already seen as a prodigy and was playing piano in concert halls. Nationality: German Known For: Incredibly detailed operas Richard Wagner was a great but controversial composer of his time. He was known for his musical talent in creating intricate operas. Yet, to many, this was overshadowed by his antisemitic writings which later made him well-liked by Adolf Hitler. Nationality: Italian Known For: Writing several famous operas Verdi is considered to this day to be one of the best composers of operas in the 19th century alongside Richard Wagner. Some of his work has even been taken in by mainstream pop culture including the “Grand March” and “Libiamo ne’ lieti calci” (The Drinking Song).

Nationality: German Known For: Being one of the greatest composers of the 19th century Brahms is often grouped together with Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach as being part of the “Three B’s.” He became famous during his lifetime and composed chamber ensembels, piano, voice, chorus and symphony orchestra. Nationality: Czech Known For: Using portions of folk music from his homeland of Bohemia as inspiration in his music Dvorak was talented from a very young age. He wrote his first composition at the age of 20 and was a skilled violinist and pianist. His most popular compositions are “New World Symphony,” the “American” String Quartet, “Cello Concerto in B minor” and “Rusalka.” Nationality: Italian Known For: His opera creations are some of the most often performed in the world Puccini created operas that are some of the most often performed in the world. Many people regard Giacomo Puccini to be the greatest Italian composer after Verdi. He was a leading individual in the realistic verismo style as well.

Nationality: Austrian Known For: A top conductor and leading composer of the late-Romantic period Mahler is known for creating very emotionally charged symphonies. He created 10 total in his lifetime. He was also the director of the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic and the Vienna Opera. Mahler’s works were considered to bridge the gap between the 19th century tradition and the modernistic style of the beginning of the 20th century. Nationality: French Known For: Considered to be the person who created musical impressionism Known for his key role in developing Impressionist music, Debussy’s style was said to be a reflection of the ups and downs of his own life. His music was often without tonality and had a sensory component. Nationality: German Known For: His operas and symphonic poems Richard Strauss’ most famous works include “Salome” and “Der Rosenkavalier.” He was one of the top composers during the end of the Romantic era and the beginning of the modern era. While the Nazis were in power, Strauss was one of the few composers who was not banned because Adolf Hitler was a fan of his.

Nationality: Austrian Known For: Development and harmonic approach that advanced musical thought Arnold Schoenberg is known for his unique approach with development and harmony in his compositions. He truly influenced over three generations of other composers. His music was made him a name as an innovator in atonality. He also created the twelve-tone technique. Nationality: French Known For: His effects and instrumental textures as well as his melodies Ravel’s most popular classical compositions are “Bolero” and “Daphnis et Chloe.” He is the most well-known of all the French composers in history. He is famous for saying “The only love affair I have ever had was with music.” Nationality: Russian Known For: Writing over 100 works Often thought to be one of the top composers of the 20th century, Stravinsky became popular from his initial works on three different ballets. His works helped to change the way other composers considered their usage of rythmic structure. Nationality: American Known For: Argued by many to be the greatest songwriter in American history Irving Berlin composed “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” in 1911. It became a huge international success that started a dance craze around the world.

He also made the popular songs “White Christmas” and “Happy Holiday.” Composer George Gershwin said that he was “the greatest songwriter that has ever lived.” Nationality: American Known For: George Gershwin George Gershwin created songs, film scores and operas that have become very recognizable such as “Rhapsody in Blue,” “Porgy and Bess” and “An American in Paris.” He had a Lifetime Musical Achievement Award named after him and he is one of only four songwriters to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. Frédéric Chopin - Long Biography - Music Sales Classical Nationality: Polish Publisher: AMP Virtuoso pianist and composer Frederic Chopin was born in Poland in February 1810. He is generally respected as one of the leading musicians of his generation and wrote almost exclusively for the piano. He was a child prodigy and composed a number of works as well as completing his musical training by the age of 20. At the age of 21, he moved to Paris and over the next 18 years, only gave 30 public performances, preferring instead the more intimate nature of salons.

He survived by selling his compositions and teaching the piano, which was easy for him as he was a much sought-after teacher. He was a very good friend of fellow virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt as well as being respected by many of the other composers in Paris at the time, including Robert Schumann. Although his reputation is substantial, his life was not long, dying at the age of just 39 in 1849. He had battled with poor health all his life and it is suspected that he eventually succumbed to tuberculosis. The reputation of his works for piano as almost a ‘stepping-stone ‘in process of becoming a pianist has ensured his reputation surviving in its entirety all the way through to the modern day. Close X Please fill in this form to receive regular news Orchestral Frederic Chopin - an overview of the classical composer All Classical Composers Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849) Frederic Chopin was born in Poland of a Polish mother, and his country of origin clearly influenced Chopin to the extent that he wrote many Mazurkas and Polonaises based on Polish dances.

The other country he is associated with is France, his father being French and Chopin moving to Paris and spending much of his creative life there. Although often contrasted with the extrovert virtuoso Liszt , the reserved Chopin nevertheless had a creatively important social life in Paris with a number of lady friends. His longest lasting relationship was with the female novelist known as George Sand who dressed as a man. This relationship was important to Chopin, with Sand perhaps acting as a mother figure, and they were together for about 10 years. Chopin was not particularly healthy and developed tuberculosis, which he endured for several years before his death at the age of 39. Chopin's music: Chopin was a skilled pianist, and a large proportion of his works are for solo piano. Many of these works are fairly short in duration, such as the Preludes, Etudes, Waltzes, Impromptus, Nocturnes and Scherzos, as well as the previously mentioned Polish dance forms of the Mazurka and Polonaise. Chopin also developed a form called the Ballade which is a more extended work, fairly free in style like a stream of consciousness, but with an internal logic.

He also wrote a number of multi-movement works including of course several Piano Sonatas. He was quite capable of writing for other instruments and did so at times, his two Piano Concertos (for solo Piano and Orchestra) being obvious examples. Some of Chopin's solo piano works demonstrate a ressemblance to the similar works by the Irish composer John Field, so this was one musical influence. Perhaps the greatest influence in terms of composition was Bach , with Chopin's 24 preludes in all keys clearly mirroring Bach's 48 preludes and fugues. More particularly there is an abstract approach in many of his works (e.g. Preludes and Etudes) which bear a relationship with some of the forms (e.g. Preludes, Inventions and Fugues) that Bach used. These are abstract in the sense that they are heavily structured, but they are far from being emotionless. On the contrary, Chopin played his works with a strong "rubato" (free variations in speed) and his music demands this approach. This gives the performer another dimension of expression which makes Chopin's music very much of the Romantic era .

Some selected works by Chopin: Soon after Chopin's relationship with George Sand had begun, he was advised by his doctor to enjoy a warmer drier climate to give some relief from his tuberculosis. They visited Majorca on holiday for this reason, but the weather was apparently very wet and his condition worsened. Although Chopin's music was never programmatic (i.e. it wasn't designed to tell a story), he is said to have composed the Prelude No. 15 there where the note repeated throughout the work represents the raindrops in Majorca, hence the nickname the "Raindrop" Prelude. It's a good story even if it isn't true. Other Preludes by Chopin on mfiles are No. 4 , No. 6 , No. 7 , No. 20 and the Prelude No. 6 arranged for Woodwind Quartet . Another famous work with a nickname is the Minute Waltz . (It's an interesting question whether works get a nickname because they are well-liked, or that they become famous simply because someone gives them a nickname, but let's not get into that question!) This name is not particularly appropriate in this case because the waltz lasts much longer than a minute, but the name has stuck.

Chopin had originally called this the "Little Dog Waltz" since the inspiration for it was watching his dog chasing his tail. Other Waltzes by Chopin on mfiles are the Minute Waltz's companion Op. 64 No. 2 and Op. 18, Grande Brillante . Chopin also wrote a number of difficult Studies or "Etudes" for piano, and an example of this on mfiles is the Etude in C# minor Op.10 No.4 . Another easily recognisable tune from the hand of Chopin is the Funeral March , which is actually a movement from the 2nd of his three piano sonatas. Some pieces were first published after his death including his Nocturne No.20 in C# minor . There is a ballet called "Les Sylphides" which uses Chopin's music. The music for this ballet was created by the composer Alexander Glazunov who took a number of Chopin's piano works and orchestrated then. Among the works included in the ballet are the following pieces: The Waltz (Grande Brillante) in Eb Op.

18 If the mfiles examples have given you an appetite for more music by Chopin, we can recommend the complete set of piano Preludes as a starting point. This is available from Sheet Music Plus (US) or The Music Room (UK) . The complete set of Waltzes is also available from the same sources at Sheet Music Plus (US) or The Music Room (UK) . Since the piano is one of the most popular of musical instruments to play and Chopin among the foremost composers for this instrument, there are many websites dedicated to the composer. One of the most comprehensive sites is the Chopin Internet Information Centre (in English and Polish) maintained by the Chopin Institute in Warsaw. Click on the Union Jack button for the English language version. The Chopin Bicentennial in 2010 2010 marked the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth, and there were many Chopin-related celebrations to mark this event. One of the more unusual projects was a full-length animated film called "Project Chopin: The Flying Machine".

(Click the image to see a larger version.) The flying machine in the title is a magic piano which takes a pair of children on an adventure to visit the places where Chopin lived and worked. The film also features the pianist Lang Lang and the music accompanying the wordless film comes from the composer's Etudes. To demonstrate the pianist's fun credentials, here is Lang Lang playing the "black keys" etude with an orange on YouTube , and more information about the film and other chopin events held in 2010 and can be found at the official website .

Question: What nationality was the composer 'Chopin'?
Answer: Polish